# Ed Zotti: why did you close my thread? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 10, 2008, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-zotti-why-did-you-close-my-thread/463011 "2008-09-10T22:30:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![NineToTheSky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@NineToTheSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineToTheSky)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-zotti-why-did-you-close-my-thread/463011/1 "2008-09-10T22:30:09Z")
I apologise for being persistent, but you have closed this thread: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=10179858#post10179858](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=10179858#post10179858) I asked my question in a completely neutral way. I inferrred nothing. I genuinely would like to to know the answer. I appreciate you are getting flack (from me as well as others), but I posted this question to give you an opportunity to lay out your market stall, hopefully to redress the balance. I am placing this in the pit not because I want to be confrontational, but because I am concerned about where else I can post it. I am genuinely confused about the rules, and the consequences of transgressing them at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![myskepticsight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@myskepticsight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/myskepticsight)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-zotti-why-did-you-close-my-thread/463011/2 "2008-09-10T22:31:09Z")
Cause he’s obviously pissed off at the lot of us today. I would be surprised if you got a real, thoughtful answer from him to your question anytime soon. ---
**Author:** ![FourPaws](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e0b2c6/32.png) [@FourPaws](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FourPaws)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-zotti-why-did-you-close-my-thread/463011/3 "2008-09-10T22:32:37Z")
> [@myskepticsight](#): > > Cause he’s obviously pissed off at the lot of us today. I would be surprised if you got a real, thoughtful answer from him to your question anytime soon. Or ever. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-zotti-why-did-you-close-my-thread/463011/4 "2008-09-10T22:33:53Z")
I think it WILL be addressed, and sooner rather than later, and point to the kerfuffle over the new forum, and what happened as a result (and how quickly it happened), as proof. As I said in the other thread, I’m hoping Ed’s post means that he realizes either that (a) he’s made an error, or (b) that he’s on some kind of razor edge in mood, and he wants to take some time out to reflect. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-zotti-why-did-you-close-my-thread/463011/5 "2008-09-10T22:35:00Z")
Ed is a walking, pissed-off, irritated and inflamed sphincter. Leave if you don’t fucking love it. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-zotti-why-did-you-close-my-thread/463011/6 "2008-09-10T22:37:04Z")
It always helps when a group of people are clueless and can’t stop posting even when they know they’re continuing the behavior that has a gotten the ire of the gods invoked. ---
**Author:** ![NineToTheSky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@NineToTheSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineToTheSky)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-zotti-why-did-you-close-my-thread/463011/7 "2008-09-10T22:41:29Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > It always helps when a group of people are clueless and can’t stop posting even when they know they’re continuing the behavior that has a gotten the ire of the gods invoked. I’ve no idea if this is addressed to me, but all I’m (genuinely) trying to do is to give Ed an opportunity to say what he wants. There may be ire flying all over the place, but my intention for the original thread was to find out what the boss wants. And it still is. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-zotti-why-did-you-close-my-thread/463011/8 "2008-09-10T22:43:02Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > It always helps when a group of people are clueless and can’t stop posting even when they know they’re continuing the behavior that has a gotten the ire of the gods invoked. No message. ---
**Author:** ![Typo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5fc32e/32.png) [@Typo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-zotti-why-did-you-close-my-thread/463011/9 "2008-09-10T22:43:14Z")
I would have taken the closing of the original thread to mean that Ed neither wants nor needs the “opportunity” you’re trying to provide. ---
**Author:** ![NineToTheSky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@NineToTheSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineToTheSky)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-zotti-why-did-you-close-my-thread/463011/10 "2008-09-10T22:52:08Z")
> [@Endiqua](#): > > I would have taken the closing of the original thread to mean that Ed neither wants nor needs the “opportunity” you’re trying to provide. OK - good point. But I still can’t see where the downside - for Ed - in my question is. ---
**Author:** ![Typo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5fc32e/32.png) [@Typo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-zotti-why-did-you-close-my-thread/463011/11 "2008-09-10T22:57:19Z")
If I were in his shoes, I wouldn’t be posting **anything** right now, much less a question like this one. (Well, maybe I’d give the people their Barabbas, but right after that I’d be taking a break from posting. :D) ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-zotti-why-did-you-close-my-thread/463011/12 "2008-09-10T22:58:35Z")
> [@NineToTheSky](#): > > OK - good point. But I still can’t see where the downside - for Ed - in my question is. Addressing an issue that he has no desire to discuss. He’s not going to tell us, so leave it alone. ---
**Author:** ![NineToTheSky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@NineToTheSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineToTheSky)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-zotti-why-did-you-close-my-thread/463011/13 "2008-09-10T23:00:23Z")
> [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > Addressing an issue that he has no desire to discuss. He’s not going to tell us, so leave it alone. OK. Done. ---
**Author:** ![Merkwurdigliebe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/74df32/32.png) [@Merkwurdigliebe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merkwurdigliebe)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-zotti-why-did-you-close-my-thread/463011/14 "2008-09-10T23:00:43Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > Ed is a walking, pissed-off, irritated and inflamed sphincter. Leave if you don’t fucking love it. You’re aware that snark is a bannable offense now, right? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-zotti-why-did-you-close-my-thread/463011/15 "2008-09-10T23:00:58Z")
Dude- or dudette- **Ed** is saying pretty fucking clearly that he doesn’t want to talk about it, and if he wanted to tell you why he didn’t want to talk about it, he’d say so. Let it go. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-zotti-why-did-you-close-my-thread/463011/16 "2008-09-10T23:04:23Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Dude- or dudette- **Ed** is saying pretty fucking clearly that he doesn’t want to talk about it, and if he wanted to tell you why he didn’t want to talk about it, he’d say so. Let it go. If Ed’s going to start dictating all the conversations “we should [not] be having right now”, maybe Ed should start a blog. That’s where ONE person controls the discussion, as opposed to a message board, where discussion is open to members. ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-zotti-why-did-you-close-my-thread/463011/17 "2008-09-10T23:05:36Z")
> [@NineToTheSky](#): > > I apologise for being persistent, but you have closed this thread: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=10179858#post10179858](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=10179858#post10179858) > > I asked my question in a completely neutral way. I inferrred nothing. I genuinely would like to to know the answer. I appreciate you are getting flack (from me as well as others), but I posted this question to give you an opportunity to lay out your market stall, hopefully to redress the balance. > > I am placing this in the pit not because I want to be confrontational, but because I am concerned about where else I can post it. I am genuinely confused about the rules, and the consequences of transgressing them at the moment. I think you had a good question. I also think **Ed** had a good response. There have been a number of times in my years on this board that I’ve seen staff action spark a large community response. In every case the staff took some time to talk it over and get a good gauge of how important it was to the community before they took any further action. **Ed** needs some time to figure all this out, that’s understandable enough. As for the community, they need to decide on a message and let the staff know what they care about. I’d say there are at least three major points. The banning of **Otto** , the global warning(and the frustration over the upgrade which was part of why the warning was given), and the direction of the SDMB going forward(including things like how much it will be used for commercial support of Creative Loafing properties and other commercial products like The Barn House). I’d prioritize them exactly as they were listed here. Give the admins/staff a couple days to figure out what to do about **Otto’s** ban, get a workable resolution in place. Then get more of the upgrade stuff taken care of, then pitch the future ideas. In the meantime I think we could do with less threads on tangents or future concerns and more coherent posts about the current concerns. Enjoy, Steven ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-zotti-why-did-you-close-my-thread/463011/18 "2008-09-10T23:05:42Z")
Having read **RNATB** ’s post below, I’ve found it sensible (well, up until the last sentence, which I think must contain some kind of typo). ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-zotti-why-did-you-close-my-thread/463011/19 "2008-09-10T23:06:37Z")
> [@Garfield226](#): > > If Ed’s going to start dictating all the conversations “we should [not] be having right now”, maybe Ed should start a blog. That’s where ONE person controls the discussion, as opposed to a message board, where discussion is open to members. Ed is dictating the conversations _he_ isn’t having right now, not _we_. He hasn’t (to my knowledge) closed threads that are expressly opened for his participation. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-zotti-why-did-you-close-my-thread/463011/20 "2008-09-10T23:32:06Z")
> [@Garfield226](#): > > If Ed’s going to start dictating all the conversations “we should [not] be having right now”, maybe Ed should start a blog. That’s where ONE person controls the discussion, as opposed to a message board, where discussion is open to members. Maybe you should start doing something other than complaining about this message board, which is all that I have, at least, seen you do since I’ve been coming here. It’s really stupid to keep on posting if you hate it here so much. Just my two cents. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-zotti-why-did-you-close-my-thread/463011.md?page=2)